Special agent leads the way

Bungling spy is top of UAE box office charts for a second week

By
Time Out Dubai staff
02 November 2011

It’s the MI-7 special agent who really is special. Rowan Atkinson’s bungling spy has – perhaps surprisingly – maintained his place at the top of the UAE box office for the second week in a row, earning more than Dhs5million at the UAE box office as almost 150,000 of you movie-lovers have watched the slapstick sequel after it snatched the crown from the Lion King 3D as the most popular movie in the country two weeks ago.

See what else made the week’s top-10 films. To view the gallery, click here.

9 Abduction
Imagine Transformers without the Transformers, and that’s Abduction, a production-line tween thriller from once promising director John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood). It stars Taylor Lautner, the rippling, dead-eyed mannequin who made his mark in the Twilight films and whose inspiration seems to be the young Schwarzenegger. He’s a dirtbike-riding, pint-chugging, mixed-martial artist bad boy of suburban Pittsburgh, and then one evening, while surfing abduction websites (as you do), he spots a picture of his younger self. Next thing he knows, there are gun-toting hoods at his door threatening to kill all his Facebook friends, so it’s a big old cross-country chase to find his real identity, with the cheerleader from across the street in tow. While the ultra-banal dialogue draws the occasional titter, the action scenes are tame and it’s rife with plot holes that you could navigate a burning blimp through. David JenkinsWeekly box office: Dhs142,677Weekly admissions: 4,460Total box office: Dhs1,643,674Total admissions: 54,445

10 Fokak Menny
The story of a university student, Walid (played by Ahmed Azmy), who dreams of joining the Academy of Arts, but his father (played by Hasan Hosny), who works in the diplomatic field insists that Walid travel abroad to study politics.Weekly box office: Dhs143,508Weekly admissions: 4,348Total box office: Dhs143,508Total admissions: 4,348

8 Space Dogs
A film based loosely on the Soviet dogs who were the first to survive a trip into space. This Russian animation follows the somewhat theatrically-embellished story of pups Strelka and Belka, and their travelling companion Venya, a rat. Best left for those aged eight and under. TOWeekly box office: Dhs247,876Weekly admissions: 5,281Total box office: Dhs247,876Total admissions: 5,281

7 I Don't Know How She Does It
Multitasking Boston mother Kate Reddy (Parker, doing her insufferable sage routine from Sex and the City) has a devoted husband, two children and a job she loves. To those around her, Kate’s a miracle worker who somehow juggles the pressures of bake sales and number crunching. But it doesn’t take long before Douglas McGrath’s painfully unfunny comedy reveals the awful truth: this woman is stressed out. If Stan Brakhage can create a movie literally out of dead moths, then humour can surely be extracted from the first-world problems of an investment strategist. The situations are third-rate sitcom at best, while a bevy of television stars past and present orbit SJP to constantly affirm her character’s rightness in all things. Painful. Keith UhlichWeekly box office: Dhs308,892 Weekly admissions: 8,376Total box office: Dhs308,892Total admissions: 8,376

6 The Lion King 3D
This dimensionally enhanced re-release of Disney’s family favourite has been sitting pretty at the top of the US box office for two weeks, which is either a searing indictment of modern mainstream cinema or a testament to how beloved The Lion King has become in the heartlands – or both. It’s the same movie – young Simba’s Shakespearean journey from pampered boy prince to fatherless outcast to lord of the pride – only bulgier around the middle. Few of the 3D additions make much difference, give or take the odd water-splash or flapping flamingo wing, so anyone who loved or loathed the movie on its 1994 run is unlikely to revise their opinion. As before, the weak point is Elton John and Tim Rice’s pseudo-world-music soundtrack – Rowan Atkinson’s rendition of ‘I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts’ remains the musical high point – but the script is still sharp, the story satisfyingly simplistic and the vocal work peerless. Tom HuddlestonWeekly box office: Dhs494,774Weekly admissions: 10,117Total box office: Dhs1,674,794Total admissions: 34,434

5 Real Steel
This film takes a classic premise – the bonding of a previously estranged father-son team – and injects a rather unusual and futuristic hook: a world where boxing is overtaken by robots. It’s a little bit action with a huge helping of sentimentality – all in all, this is a movie to take the kids to. Nyree McFarlaneWeekly box office: Dhs502,137Weekly admissions: 13,765Total box office: Dhs3,209,761Total admissions: 88,817

4 Contagion
You might think twice about holding the rail on the bus after seeing Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. It’s an engrossing dramatic thriller about a sudden worldwide epidemic of a disease that makes Bird Flu look like nappy rash. The progress of the epidemic, the names of cities and the size of populations flash on screen as the sudden death of corporate manager and suburban wife and mother Beth (Paltrow) on her return from a business trip to Hong Kong sets alarm bells ringing and the mortality rate soaring. Her husband (Damon) might be immune, but he’s desperate for his daughter to stay well and safe. The film plays with our suspicions, puncturing worries that this is going to be a Western tale of ‘yellow peril’ or to include a moral twist linked to the infidelity of one of the first victims. Neither materialise, though the epilogue edges into wishy-washy anti-globalisation territory, but mostly it’s a level-headed, energetic and enjoyable tale of terror and a world gone wrong. Dave CalhounWeekly box office: Dhs1,049,363Weekly admissions: 26,449Total box office: Dhs1,049,363Total admissions: 26,449

3 Paranormal Activity 3
From a DIY horror flick to a globe-striding franchise is pretty impressive, but will the fans stick around for a third go? They should, because much like its predecessors, Paranormal Activity 3 boasts the same slow-building thrills, except this time we’re in for a prequel, where we find out Katie (from the first film) was originally traumatised by strange goings on as a child. Holly SandsWeekly box office: Dhs852,090Weekly admissions: 26,628Total box office: Dhs852,090Total admissions: 26,628

2 Setup
Quite what former Hollywood heavyweight Bruce Willis is doing starring alongside Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) in a mostly straight-to-DVD heist caper, we truly don’t know. Willis’ career has been in something of a tailspin of late, and this uninspired film about an ill-fated diamond-pinching job is unlikely to halt his descent. Holly Sands
Weekly box office: Dhs1,061,075Weekly admissions: 30,255Total box office: 1,061,075Total admissions: 30,255

1 Johnny English Reborn
Eight years after his first celluloid airing, Rowan Atkinson’s Bean-meets-Bond creation gets to bungle another day. This time, the filmmakers take the plot more seriously, bringing MI-7’s least special agent out of retirement for a rendezvous in Hong Kong. Some of the hi-jinks are amusing, including an eye-watering training session at a temple. But too often the gags are smile-worthy not thigh-slapping. It’s very undemanding, though the enthusiastic granny bashing does provide a quantum of solace. Trevor JohnstonWeekly box office: Dhs1,584,924Weekly admissions: 47,193Total box office: 5,245,635Total admissions: 149,967